The disclosure relates to tracking and reporting of pay-for-use office machine usage, such as a print/copy machine. More particularly, an internally generated machine usage activity log is provided as a report for individual users of a pay-for-use office machine for services to enable accurate tracking and billing of customer usage on a session basis.
Internal auditrons on many print/copy machines are capable of tracking machine usage on a machine or customer account basis. However, currently there is no provision within a print/copy machine, such as a digital copier or multifunction device, to generate a usage report for the user's activity when the copier is used as a pay-for-print/copy machine by customers to track and report on individual customer's usage for payment purposes. Known payment processes for pay-for-use office machines such as a print/copy machine include a manual entry process completed by a user on a pre-printed form. Additional known solutions include association of a separate activation device, such as a card reader (for debit, credit or pre-paid account cards) or a coin machine, to enable activation of the machine for a predetermined number of copy/print service activities by pre-paid funding.
There are many problems with the currently implemented systems to enable pay-for-print/copy machine usage and billing. The need for a separate activation device for each machine adds cost and complexity to each copy/print machine. It also adds to the potential downtime of the machine due to malfunction of the activation device. Additionally, when more than simple copying is involved, there is a need for complex printer/copier interaction with the activation device to allow for different levels of service pricing.
There are also problems with a manually entered customer reporting system. Foremost, there is a large potential for underreporting of copy services actually completed. Additionally, there is a large potential for inaccurate or incomplete manual entry of the customer's activities, particularly when many different services can be obtained. Because of these deficiencies, large losses of revenue are to be expected by businesses providing self-service pay-for-print/copy services.